Former Steelers LB explains jail stay

June 20, 2012|The Sports Xchange

Clark Haggans, a former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker now with Arizona, has issued a statement to clarify the circumstances surrounding his short jail term.

Haggans, 35, was incarcerated at Westmoreland County Prison in Greensburg, Pa., to serve a sentence for a traffic offense the veteran says occurred April 21 when he left a concert to tend to a family emergency involving his young daughter.

"I was at a concert with my wife when I got a call from our babysitter that our 5-year-old daughter was having trouble breathing," Haggans' statement reads. "She has been on medicine and inhalers since she was born because of her underdeveloped lungs. The sitter was panicked. I had been drinking and my wife was planning on driving home from the concert. But my wife was wandering around when I got the call, and I couldn't find her. I tried calling her within the concert, but had no luck getting a hold of her. I needed to get home to my daughter immediately."

Haggans said in the statement that his "only choice was to drive home."

"While driving home, I sped and ran a red light, so I was pulled over," the statement said. "I, along with the officers, proceeded to my house and administered the treatment and my daughter responded.

In spite of the circumstances, I was issued a citation for two moving violations and suspicion of driving under the influence."

Haggans said the agreement with the district attorney's office required a 48-hour jail sentence plus seven additional nights in jail as restitution for his "choices."

"In hindsight, I should have found another way home," he wrote, "and I take full responsibility for my actions."

Haggans signed a one-year deal to return to the Cardinals in the offseason. He played for the Steelers before signing with Arizona in free agency in 2008.